The National tribune., 1887-07-14
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers
TO SOFTEN HORSES FEET.

June %, would advise him to first get made
| by any blacksmith a hoof hook with which to
perfectly clean the bottom of the horses foot.
| Then ill common-sized box with mixture Of
| common COW manure (fresh) aud clay, made
| thick enough to adhere to the horses foot. aud
4 morning and night I'LL the bottom of the foot
| 10 the surface Of the shoe. This mixture will
| hold moisture q long time, aud having tried
| everything else have found il the most etfic-
lent, and / have charge OF nearly hundred
horses Another good plan is to make shallow
box, say four inches in depth and three by
four feet square, fill with mud, and, taking
OF the hOrsess shoes, let him stand all day with
his forefeet in the box OF mud This will have
the same effect. Painting the bottom of the
hOof with neatsfoot aud linseed oil is also good.
VIM. A. BERRY, Banden Stock Farm, Man
sou, Iowa.
TAKE CARE OF THE SOIL
man making much pretension to knowl-
edge of the soil and its properties once said Of
the wonderfully productive soil in the West,
that We could not exhaust its productive
powers. Don't believe a word of it, Unless
means are used to e keep up" the soil, use will
put IL down." as sure the world stands.
Prof Chamberlain, now of the Iowa Agrcul-
tural College, and long before Secretary of the
ONO State Board of Agriculture, gives y very
| valuable paper on How To keep up the fer
tility If the soil" lie says stable manure 10
the best fertilizer on EARTH
Mixed farming produces the best results be-
cause the feed given To the stock IS in turn fed
back To the soil. Save all manure, both liquid |
/ aud solid. They should be mixed to get best |
| results Don't run liquids into tank but use |
| ahsorbents and keep them together The best |
way TO apply manure is to take it direct from |
the stable 20 the field where it is to be used |
Don't let il heat and "frefang" He likened |
the practice of letting manure lie under the |
caves TO get the drip and run away. TO sleeping |
tea and coffee, aud throwing away the liquor |
and eating the dregs. The kinds of food best |
| adapted to milk production are the best for |
| manure. One hundred dollars worth of cheese |
takes from the farm less than IL the fertility |
| taken by 800 worth Of grain, while 500 worth |
| oi butter-if the skim milk is fed on the farm |
takes nothing from the soil. For potatoes |
use well-rOtted manure. For corn, pillow 1t I'M |
| der green. Thinks blowing under clover poor |
economy. Better feed IL 70 the cow first. She |
| don't want the elements the soil wants The |
Professor told of an experiment at the college |
last Summer: Two pieces Of potatoes were |
planted side by side. One heavily manfred |
stood the drouth fairly well AMI produced $50 |
bushels per acre. Where no manure was used, |
| only Do bushels per acre were reslized.-EE- |
change.
cULTIvATING CROPS
Old methods of farming are compelled to |
give way 10 more improved and less laborious |
ones. As the old-fashioned hand scythe aud |
grain cradle have been obliged TO give way TO |
mower and reaper. so this use of the hand hoe |
| Is gradually falling into disuse upon a system |
OF field culture. The farmers Of half n century |
ago, who In the cultivation of their crops spent
day after day with the hoe in hand, would |
view with jealousy the work now performed
with horse hoes. At that remote date, with |
only hoes OF rude make. none dreamed that
| the corn and potatoes could be tended by the
use OF an implement drawn by horse, but |
such Is the fact and in II there is found par
tial solution at least Of the difficulty that has
been felt in some sections Of procuring reliable
help. The use of such an implement is more
efectuai IN the destruction Of weeds aud stir
ring the soil in proper manner than half |
score or more Of men who make poor use of
hand hoes. There is a great difference of men |
in the use OF the hand hoe; some might as well |
sit on the fence aud look at the corn as to 20 |
over il in the slipshod manner that they do in |
the exercise Of their duties.
NOTES.
-Stagnant water is detrimental to all kinds
OF crops. and for that all fields should DO
tiled or underdrained in some manner. Under |
drainage carries of the surplus water and al |
lows more air and heat 10 enter the earth.
Level culture is better than killing, as IL |
| enables the cultvatOr and harrow to be used
with greater facility. while the rains do not |
flow of As rapidly. which is q very important |
matter during dry seasons. when light showers |
| occur only at long intervals.
The simultaneous development Of the |
bone, wool, fat and muscle ia the system Of the |
sheep requires wide diversity of elements in |
| the food. IL would be impossible, TOR instance |
| to get ewes TO thrive well on a diet of corn |
alone; they would grow too fat and would |
amount to nothing. Variety is absolutely es- |
sential.
In attempting to make the food of the calf |
too rich when il is being raised by hand, the |
| digestion may be impaired and SCOUTS DO the |
result. Skim milk. not soured, given some
what warm, is the best. but oatmeal Cruel may |
be added three times a week with advantage |
Do not, however, change the food suddenly. |
| - IL Is AN easy matter 10 stunt the growth |
Of the wool Of the sheep aud the lambs. and |
| stunted growth Is never desirable in anything. |
| The longer we farm the more thoroughly salts |
fled do We become that il pays To keep stock |
| growing all the time, just the same as a CROP
and that any failure TO do this is failure 70 |
secure as much profit as we could.
Why not have hoe handles Dat or oval, |
| like ax-handlesf With such handle the |
workman can strike more accurately, and SO |
work nearer the plants, because the hoe will |
not turn in his hands. The edge will wear |
1 evenly and the hoe will last longer than with |
| the old round handle The wrist is not SO soon |
| tired nor the hands cramped with the fat ham
| die. When you come to repair the old hoes |
put an oval handle in one OF them.
| While coal ashes really possess but little, |
| IL any, manural value, they well worth |
the trouble of saving up and applying TO any |
| stiff soil rs means of tightening it up and |
rendering il more mellow aud porous. They |
are also very useful as a mulch for newly set |
| trees in the orchard. Aud while it may not |
pay TO haul them any considerable distance, |
| they, as said before are well worth saving up |
| at home for the purposes above indicated.
| That class OF plants known weeds is |
nothing more than aeoating provided by nature |
To protect the waste places of the earth from
the cold blasts Of Winter Is we'll the hot suns
of Summer-just as b provided the hair on the
| back of our domestic animals, and the only |
| justification man has In their destruction is |
when cutivatng the land 10 put something
| in their place of moro use 10 him and that will
answer the purpose equally as we'll.
| Some one very sensibly, writing OF treat |
| ment OF horses. says. Never run after horse |
in the pasture. If he does not like TO be caught
coax him with little grain, but never deceive |
| him with an empty dish. You can soon teach |
| the widest horse to come TO you. When he |
does come let him eat a little while before you |
| lead him off. Some horsemen, when going to |
| the PASTURE whether they wish TO catch a horse |
or not, always carry a tid-bit-an ear of corn,
a handful OF oats, apple or a carrot. a chunk |
| ofs mr. Whan x,ou hnrGa nuf